From Yesterday
by Amatus Vanitas
Summary: In which Xion discovers a personal flaw and vows to change it, while Riku gives her a reason not to leave.  Connects to "One Hundred Suns," prompts "Symbol," "Oasis," and "Runaway," if you're interested.  Rated for safety.


**I'm guessing that, if you're reading this, you've probably read "One Hundred Suns," my 100-word drabble series, but there's always a chance you haven't. If not, let me say hi and thanks for reading this! There are corresponding drabbles to this story—chapter 50, "Symbol," chapter 69, "Oasis," and chapter 74, "Runaway," of OHS—if you want to read exactly what I'm getting at. *Shrugs.* Rated for safety because there are some sexual themes toward the end. And despite the name of OHS coming from a 30 Seconds to Mars song, this is _not_ named after "From Yesterday" by the same band, although that did help me come up with a name-y'know, where does Xion go from yesterday? *Shot.***

**So, if I'm going to play the blame-game, I at least want to have shock value—it wasn't my good friend goldeneyes713 who inspired this! Credit for giving me the plot bunny goes to MonMonCandie, who didn't necessarily agree with Xion's choice in the second drabble and said so, and the bunny just hopped onto my computer. :D**

**Please, enjoy!**

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><p>"Xion? You're still here?" Riku notes how Xion's fingers anxiously twist around themselves, how she stares intently at the reflection of a mirror across the room as she leans against the headboard of their bed, how she bites her lip lightly, among... other things.<p>

Xion starts a bit at the sound of his voice, but her smiles comes easily enough—a little strained, but that's to be expected after yesterday, when the world went to hell with no signs of reverting back for hours. Yesterday, when Xehanort himself arrived on the scene to enjoy the proceedings; yesterday, when he unveiled the latest insignia to threaten the worlds to the pair of them; yesterday, when Xion was left with a world flipped on its lid and no clue of which way was up... "Yeah. I wanted to talk to you before we survey the extent of the damage around the worlds."

"Okay...?" Something about this puts him on edge; be it his fear of abandonment now that's he's found everything he wants, her expression, or the fact that she almost left them all behind again last night, it's anyone's guess. Cautiously he sits on the opposite end of the bed, Xion's smile widening ever so slightly while she watches him.

"Relax, it's not like I'm about to tell you that I'm leaving you." Her grin falls; she glares past him at her black-clad reflection in the mirror. "I doubt I could ever _tell_ you that."

"Hey." He rests a hand on her leg, rubbing his thumb across the bare skin of her ankle. "If it's about last night—"

"It is and it isn't." Beneath Riku's hand Xion relaxes with a sigh. "I've been thinking a lot about what you said last night, Riku, about what this means for everyone, where I go from here, why I wanted out—"

"Thinking about everyone else before yourself?" he teases lightly, running his hand up her calf to rest on her knee.

"You're the one who taught me how." Xion smiles at him again, but while he knows she's merely matching his banter, he doesn't like the point she's accidentally made—that he taught her to give up her own happiness for someone else. "Anyway, I wanted to tell you that you're right. It was..." Xion frowns, looks down at his hand on her knee instead of at him. "… incredibly selfish for me to try to leave you that way, and I'm sorry."

"I forgave you. Or did you forget?" It's impossible not to chuckle at the blush rising in Xion's cheeks, and he wasn't about to try anyway.

"I didn't forget," she murmurs through his laughter. "I'm not done, you know. It would be appreciated if you stopped impersonating a hyena now."

"That was harsh." Riku rises, ignoring Xion's indignant "Hey!" as he circles the bed on sits in the empty space beside her. "You were saying?" He covers her hand with his, which earns him that winning smile he's learned doesn't come for all that many people.

"I was saying that..." Her smile fades away, but having apologized, it's replaced with thoughtfulness over bitterness; she twists her hand so that she can lace their fingers together. "I'm finding out that whenever I feel lost, or scared, or hurt, I... run away." Xion turns away again, staring absently at their hands. "I find out I'm a Replica? I run away. I find out I'm killing one of my best friends? I run away." Any good feelings they've built up in him during the last few minutes sink and morph into helplessness as she gets quieter, and he hears how hard it is for her to speak. "I find out that I could be hurting everyone I care about again—that I may not be human still... I run away."

Riku can't take this anymore. Instantaneously he releases her hand and wraps his arm around her shoulders to hold her to him; when she glances up at him, he kisses her without thinking, slowly sitting up and straddling her hips, not unlike the night before. Xion doesn't resist now, though, and she kisses him back fiercely, winding her arms around his neck.

"I wanted to tell you," she whispers when he pulls back to breathe, "that I'm not going to run away anymore. I have too much here for me to leave." Her blue eyes are wide and honest, and he stops himself to stare into them for a moment. That warm feeling that no one besides Xion has ever brought out—something raw and vulnerable and hungry—is spreading through his veins, burning where they touch, coiling around his heart and making it hard for his lungs to work properly. "I meant it when I said I love you. I'm just not good at showing it all the time."

"I guess that's why you have me, then," and without another word he closes the distance between them, feeling rather than hearing the little moan Xion makes.

"Are you kidding me?" she pants. "You're the one who taught me that, too."

"Yeah, yeah." He kisses down her throat, nuzzling the crook of her neck and nipping there when Xion arches her back and presses her body against his.

"I—I guess you're stuck with me for as long as you want me, then." Xion sighs when he pulls away for good, slumping into the bed with a content smirk.

He brushes her bangs out of her face, filled with the same awe and warmth he felt the first time he ever did. "Can you stick around forever?" he murmurs; his fingers linger where her jaw and neck meet.

"I might be able to do that," she answers, pecking him once on the lips. "Now, let's go get rid of the bad guys so we can have that forever."


End file.
